Mechanism of separating muscovite and quartz by flotation

Abstract

Flotation experiments were performed to investigate the separation of muscovite and quartz in the presence of dodecylamine (DDA), tallow amine (TTA) and dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAC). The adsorption mechanisms of these three kinds of amines on muscovite and quartz were studied by FT-IR spectrum analysis, contact angle measurement and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The results reveal that the separation of muscovite from quartz is feasible at strong acid pulp condition using amine collectors. TTA and DTAC show poorer collecting ability for flotation of the two minerals compared with DDA. Physical adsorption is found to be the main adsorption module of amine collectors on muscovite and quartz by FT-IR analysis. MD simulation results show a strong physical adsorption ability of DDA⁺ cation on muscovite and quartz (muscovite (001): −117.31 kJ/mol, quartz (100): −89.43 kJ/mol), while neutral DDA molecular can hardly absorb onto the surface of these two minerals. These findings provide a novel explanation for the flotation mechanism from the perspective of MD simulation.

Keywords

muscovite / quartz / amines / flotation / adsorption mechanism

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